Tobermory 20 y.o. maltmountains 1995 – 2015, hogshead, 48,4%

Comment: The nose reminds me of a breakfast near cow stables – hints of muesli, green tea, nutella, wholegrain bread, fennel, cumin, cinnamon, canned apricots and pears, ginger and ginger bread, and also a whiff of, well, manure pile (in a good way) … Serge calls this ‚farmyardy‘ – same idea. As Bavarian boys this makes us feel at home   The palate is way different, which I always like: very round, coastal, briny, discrete peat and earth a la Garioch (no smoke though), and so quaffable, darn good. A long finish leaves you wanting another shot. Still available for 125.- Euro.

Score: 89

Speyside Region 20 y.o. 1994 – 2015, sherry cask, 52,4%

Comment: What a muscular and big dram. Powerful, spicy, well-sherried. The spicy part consists of chili, wasabi and tanned leather. The sherry adds dark chocolate, cherries, plums and aniseed. I am also getting reminiscences of old dusty library shelves. The palate is very much the same but the wine adds a nice layer of complexity to the combo. I liked to tame it with a dash of water, but if you prefer it heavy, neat is fine. 124.- Euro.

Score: 87

Oliver also has a 20 y.o. Glen Keith which scratches the 90-points-mark (had it only passing by at a fair). Great value there, as well.

Overall, one can say that the quality has risen and became more consistent. Moreover, there are some definitive highlights in the series which I recommend (and partly bought for myself). Our friend Lorenz Schreier, the man behind the project, can be proud of his new ‚babies‘ which sell really reasonably (check their website).

Let’s start with the Bourbon-cask bomb Glen Keith 21 y.o from 1992 (Barrel 120610, 49,5%) – a typical vanilla-laden, creme brulee whisky that also renders oily fruitiness, butter, marzipan and caramel, mouthfilling and big. Great whisky in every way: 90 points.

My second favourite is the 17 y.o. Miltonduff from 1995 (Cask 2802, 58,1%) – a fruity and elegant Speysider on plums, peardrops and flowers with impeccable balance. It drinks like an ‚Apfelstrudel‘ and remains classy all the way. A real steal at 65 Euro. 89 points.

Two more really good ones need to be mentioned: The 18 y.o. Braeval from 1994 (55,3%) is smooth as a velvet glove and a great mature allrounder (yellow plums, raspberries, apples, leather and herbs. 89 points. On par with this one I find the sherry cask version of a 17 y.o. Glentauchers from 1996 (57,2%) – being a bit rum-like from the sherry elements, it is complex and nutty (almonds) with dark and bright fruits, vanilla, resin, discrete wood and so much more,  all well balanced (no water necessary). 89 points. All these are great drams well below 100.- Euro.

The other bottlings scored like this (find notes on the Tasting Fellows page):

– Glenburgie 21 y.o. (1992): 87 points

– Mortlach 17 y.o. (1996): 87 points

– both Fettercairn 15 y.o. (1997): 86 points

– Macduff 15 y.o. (1997): 82 points

To sum it up, there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch and many are really convincing. Great picks in difficult times: Kudos Lorenz.

My Tasting Fellows Bottlings